BY JOTHAM SEDERSTROM

It was the velvet drapes, crystal chandeliers and one-of-a-kind revolving dance floor that first drew Manhattan’s upper crust to the Rainbow Room when it opened in 1934, and it may be those same Jacques Carlu-designed features that help immortalize it next week.

Indeed, a full four years after the glamorous Art Moderne restaurant and nightclub was shuttered amid a drawn-out feud between landlord Tishman Speyer and the Cipriani family, the Landmarks Preservation Commission is now set to consider the space for a rare interior landmark designation, which would simultaneously protect it from alterations by future tenants while arguably reducing the number of potential suitors for the 65th-floor space.

While all eyes will be on the Rainbow Room when officials meet September 11, The Commercial Observer will also be paying attention to a host of other landmarks issues tentatively scheduled for next week’s LPC docket.

To see our predictions on what gets approved, click here.

BY CARL GAINES

Pinkberry will open its second Brooklyn location at 117 Front Street in Dumbo later this year, in a space previously occupied by clothing and accessories store NOS, which will expand to nearby 81 Front Street. The frozen yogurt store is slated to open the 1,000-square-foot shop in October.

"They have been scoping out the neighborhood," said Caroline Pardo, leasing agent at Two Trees Management, which owns buildings across the Brooklyn neighborhood. "They were looking at the prime retail corridors of the neighborhood, and Front Street obviously is that. And it was perfect timing because NOS was moving out. I showed them the space, and they really just fell in love with it."

Ms. Pardo reviewed Pinkberry¹s furniture plan with The Commercial Observer and explained why, exactly, the frozen yogurt retailer chose Dumbo for its next location.

To check out the plan, click here.

BY ROBERT SAMMONS

Despite recent challenges in our quaint local market of Manhattan, the average asking rent has generally continued on an upward trajectory since the recent recession. Part of this has to do with red-hot Midtown South and its rising prices, and part of it has to do with Midtown and space generally being leased at the lower end of the range while some of the higher-priced product languishes (i.e., a bit of a statistical anomaly).

Even Downtown will likely soon see a sharper increase when higher-priced space at World Trade Center is included in the formula within the next year. And compared to other markets around the country, Manhattan far outweighs the competition.

To check out our info chart, click here.

BY DANIEL EDWARD ROSEN

JEMB Realty Corp. and Aurora Capital Associates have joined forces to market and sell off the 15 leaseholds belonging to Daffy’s, the now-defunct discount retailer, it was announced Wednesday.

The new duo will handle a portfolio that has several attractive retail locations in its stead, including a 18,000-square-foot Financial District space at 50 Broadway and a 30,000-square-foot space at 462 Broadway.

“Daffy’s leaseholds represent a unique and compelling opportunity for retailers to acquire space at superior locations that rarely become available,” said Jared Epstein, a vice president of Aurora, in a prepared statement.

JEMB Realty paid $43 million for Daffy’s leasehold interests (along with “certain” real estate fixtures) in August. Daffy’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Southern District of New York court after the retailer reported liabilities worth upwards of $70.5 million. It also owed money to 5,000 creditors, including Nautica and Steve Madden Ltd.

JEMB Realty Corp. CEO Morris Bailey pledged in August that he would “provide payment in full to all of Daffy’s creditors.”

To read the full story, click here.

BY CARL GAINES

Mark Scott’s Commercial Mortgage Capital has arranged a $27 million loan to finance the second phase of construction at an apartment complex in Middletown, N.Y.

The financing was through PNC Bank and will allow for the construction of an additional 120 units and retail space at Sterling Parc, which is located in the Hudson Valley. PNC also funded phase one of the complex, which will number 192 units in all.

Mark Scott told The Mortgage Observer that this most recent deal comes on the heels of his busiest summer yet, as borrowers race to lock in un-heard of rates.

“People want to lock down rates for not just 10 years, but sometimes 15 years or longer, even though the pricing might be higher,” Mr. Scott said, adding that borrowers that wouldn’t fathom absorbing a pre-penalty are doing it because of the rate environment.

“Those two things are in the backdrop of something else that I’m hearing from borrowers. And that is that they feel that they better tie it down in the next 60 days or so because they’re waiting for the next shoe to drop.”

To read the full story, click here.